

Order I. ACCIPITRES, 



Family III. Strigxdte. 



The third Subfamily, 



SYRNIINiE, or Owlets, 



have the head large, smooth, and furnished with two small tufts, and the facial disk moderate and 

 complete, or nearly so. 



Syrnium Sav.* 



Bill moderate, strong, with the base broad, and concealed by the frontal plumes ; the sides compressed; 

 and the culmen arched to the tip, Avhich is hooked ; the nostrils basal, lateral, and medial, with the 

 opening large and oval. Wings long and rounded, with the fourth and fifth quills equal and longest. 

 Tail long, broad, and more or less rounded. Tarsi short, strong, thick, and densely clothed with 

 plumes. Toes moderate, densely plumed to the end of each toe ; the claws long, acute, and slightly 

 curved. 



These birds are found in various parts of the world, even in very high latitudes, hunting in the shady woods and 

 thick plantations for a short time before the sun sinks below the horizon, but hiding themselves during the rest of the 

 day in ruins and hollow trees. In the northern latitudes they are frequently seen flying about even at midday, and 

 then flight is gliding and noiseless. They have been observed in flocks of forty individuals together, flying, or sitting 

 in some exposed situation. Small quadrupeds are their principal food, though they sometimes seize upon birds, and 

 occasionally on fish, all of which they strike with their foot. They build amidst rocks, or on lofty trees ; and the nest 

 is constructed of a considerable quantity of sticks, lined with dry leaves and a few feathers. The eggs are usually two 

 or four in number. The females sometimes deposit their eggs in the deserted nests of other birds. 



1. S. aluco (Linn.) Boie, PI. enl. 441 Strix stridula Linn. 



PL enl. 137. ; S. sylvestris, S. alba, S. noctua, et S. rufa Gmel. ; 

 Syrnium ululans Sav. Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 47. 



2. S. cinereum (Gmel.) Pr. Bonap. Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 24. — 

 Strix lapponica Retz. Sparr. Mus. Carls, t. 5. ; S. barbata Pall. ; S. 

 acclamator Bartr. ; S. fuliginosa Shaw, Faun. Bor. Amer. Birds, pi. 

 31., Audub. B. of Amer. pi. 351. 



3. S. uralense (Pall.) Lepechin, Voy. ii. 187. t. 3. — Strix litu- 

 rata Retz. PL col. 27. ; S. macroura Natt. ; Type of Ptynx Blyth 

 (1840). 



4. S. fuscescens Temm. & Schl. Faun. Jap. t. 10. 



5. S. ocellatum Less. Rev. Zool. 1839. 289- 



6. S. newarense (Hodgs.) As. Res. xix. 168 Strix indranee 



Sykes ? Bulaca monticola Jerd. ; Type of Bulaca Hodgs. (1837). 



7. S. sinense (Lath.) — Strix orientalis Shaw, Gray, 111. Ind. 

 Zool. pi. i. 21. 



8. S. seloputo (Horsf.) Linn. Trans, xiii. — Strix pagodarum 

 Temm. PL col. 230. 



9. S. nebulosum (Gmel.) Cuv. Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 46., Wils. 

 Amer. Orn. pi. 33. f. 2., Vieill. Ois. d'Ame'r. t. 17-, Audub. B. of 

 Amer. pi. 46. — Type of TJlula Cuv. (1817). 



10. S. mieropthalmum Tyzenk. Ornith. Bowsz. 



11. S. hylophilum (Temm.) PL col. 373. 



Otus Cuv.f 



Bill moderate, mostly concealed by the frontal plumes, broad at the base and compressed on the sides ; 

 the culmen curved towards the tip, which is acute ; the nostrils lateral, medial, and hidden by the 



* Established by Savigny in 1809. In 1829 M. Kaup used Aluco, and in 1837 Mr. Swainson proposed Scotiaptex for the same birds. 

 It embraces Mr. Hodgson's genus Bulaca (1837), which he changed to Meseides in 1841 ; and also Ulula of Cuvier (1817), and Ptynx 

 (] 840) of Mr. Blyth. 



f It was in 1799 or 1800 that Cuvier established this genus. Asio of Mr. Strickland, Brachyotus of Mr. Gould (1837), and Mgolius 

 of Count Keyserling and Dr. Blasius (1840) are synonymous with the name employed. It also includes Nyctalops of Wagler (1832). 



